On today’s show… Trump attacks another automaker for building cars in Mexico, Bentley takes the wraps off the fastest and most powerful car it’s ever had in its line-up and a look at more new technology from CES. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.

TRUMP THREATENS TOYOTA WITH TARIFFS
President-elect Trump is back to bashing the auto industry. He’s already targeted Ford and GM for building cars in Mexico but now he’s going after foreign automakers. Yesterday in a tweet, Trump threatened to slap tariffs on Toyota if it exports Corollas made in Mexico to the U.S. Unlike Ford, which just scrapped plans to build a new plant in Mexico, Toyota says it will move forward with its production plans. But according to Reuters, it’s Nissan who should be worried about Trump’s rhetoric. Vehicles built in Mexico make up about a quarter of its U.S. sales, compared to 10% for Toyota. Trump has threatened to slap a 35% tariff on vehicles exported to the U.S. from Mexico, but just a 10% tariff would drop Nissan’s operating income by 10%.

BENTLEY REVEALS ITS FASTEST MODEL
Bentley just introduced the fastest and most powerful model to its line-up, the Continental Supersports. This suped-up version of the GT is powered by a revised version of the company’s W12 engine, a 6.0L twin-turbo, that’s mated to an 8-speed automatic. It cranks out a whopping 700bhp and 750 pound feet of torque. The hardtop version has a top speed of 209 MPH and can move from 0 to 60 MPH in just 3.4 seconds. The convertible is a bit slower, its top speed is 205 MPH and it reaches 0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds. Not only is the Continental Supersports the fastest model in Bentley’s line-up, the company says it’s the fastest four-seat car in the world.

Still to come… a look at some of the new technology from the Consumer Electronics Show.

HONDA CREATES COOPERATIVE MOBILITY ECOSYSTEM
We teased Honda’s autonomous EV commuter vehicle, called NeuV back in early December and now we’re learning more details. When not in use by the owner, NeuV will act as an automated ride sharing vehicle to take people on short trips. To make sure it can suit many different drivers, the vehicle leverages an artificial intelligence assistant named HANA. It can make recommendations to the driver or even make music choices by monitoring the driver’s mood. And to make sure no one gets bored, the NeuV features a huge touchscreen that stretches the entire length of the dashboard. Honda also showed off a motorcycle with its new Riding Assist technology. It’s a self-balancing feature that shares technology from the automaker’s UNI-CUB personal mobility device, which doesn’t use any gyroscopes for balance.

A MOVIE THEATER INSIDE YOUR CAR
The seating arrangement inside the automobile has been consistent for over 100 years, but autonomy will completely upend that with seats that can swivel completely around, move side to side and further back than ever before. This creates a whole new set of complications for providing good audio to the passengers of the vehicle. But automotive audio systems provider HARMAN is working on a number of unique solutions. Its Digital Sound Stage technology connects the music directly to your drive by controlling the audio inside the car to match the drive route. So, a nice Sunday cruise could play some nice classical number or play something more intense while whipping through canyon curves. HARMAN’s In-Car Conferencing system uses special processing to match audio to specific locations within the car, which could be used for in-car conferencing. And its In-Car Theatre technology allows hi-res streaming for movie theater-like viewing in the car.

And for more from CES, make sure to check out our coverage of the show. John is at the world’s premier tech show bringing you the latest developments. Look for those interviews, on our website, Autoline.tv or on our YouTube channel.

Coming up next, the Ford Super Duty is one of the finalists for North American Truck of the Year but can it win? We’ll take a look at that right after this.

CAN SUPER DUTY WIN TRUCK OF THE YEAR?
On Monday we’ll learn what vehicles win the award for North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year. One of the finalists for Truck of the Year is the Ford Super Duty and on Autoline This Week, John and his panel of NACTOY jurors discuss the pros and cons of that vehicle.

(Clip from ATW #2102 can only be viewed in the video version of today’s show.)

And you won’t want to miss our coverage of the Detroit auto show next week. On Monday and Tuesday, we’ll be on the floor of the show, checking out the latest reveals and interviewing the people who helped create them. Then on Wednesday and Thursday, its our annual Autoline Supplier Symposium, where John interviews executives and experts from the supplier industry about the issues they face. Look for that coverage on Autoline.tv or on our YouTube channel.

But that’s it for today, thanks for watching, have a great weekend and we will see you right back here on Monday.

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That Bentley is impressive, having slightly better performance than a ~600 pound lighter Challenger or Charger Hellcat. The Bentley has 4wd, which would help the 0-60 time, and it must have lower aero drag, giving it a slightly higher top speed.

The Hellcats are much better buys, though, costing “only” $66K, to the Bentley’s $296K.

All this talk of how safe autonomous cars will be that they will avoid accidents. Will they than eliminate all safety equipment such as air bags seat belts and all the front and back safety equipment ?

All this talk of how safe autonomous cars will be that they will avoid accidents. Will they than eliminate all safety equipment such as air bags seat belts and all the front and back safety equipment ?

I also think Gary is right. But don’t look for that to happen any time soon. As long as manually controlled vehicles still ply our roads (which I hope will be for a long time!), the safety gear will have to stay. Autonomous functions only control the car they are mounted in, and they can only do so much to avoid a collision.

If you think the audio guys will be challenged, what about the safety engineers? It is a challenge even now to provide air bags, protect unbelted passengers etc. As others said, eliminating some of these requirements will happen slowly, and therefore the flexible seating configurations will also happen slowly.